This novel would make an excellent gift for any young people you know who are thinking of becoming missionaries.
As night fell, burning torches were set on wooden tripods and the young men raised a song. The elders sat in a circle and the singers went round singing each man’s praise as they came before him. They had something to say for every man. Some were great farmers, some were orators who spoke for the clan. Okonkwo was the greatest wrestler and warrior alive. When they had gone round the circle they settled down in the centre, and girls came from the inner compound to dance. At first the bride was not among them. But when she finally appeared holding a cock in her right hand, a loud cheer rose from the crowd. All the other dancers made way for her. She presented the cock to the musicians and began to dance. Her brass anklets rattled as she danced and her body gleamed with cam wood in the soft yellow light. The musicians with their wood, clay and metal instruments went from song to song. And they were all gay.
Chinua Achebe was born in Ogidi, Nigeria, the son of a teacher in a missionary school. His parents, instilled in him many of the values of their traditional Ibo culture, but christened him Albert after Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria.
Almost forty years ago Chinua Achebe published Things Fall Apart and became one of the founders of the new Nigerian literature. He would quickly become one of the finest African novelists, if not one of the finest in the world.
This ironic novel traces the life of Okonkwo, one of the greatest men in Umuofia, who, after seven years of exile, returns to his village to find missionaries and colonial governors have arrived and are in the process of undermining and destroying his culture and tradition. With his world thrown radically off-balance he can only hurtle towards tragedy.
As an Ibo writer, Achebe is interested in the effects of Western customs and values on traditional African society. In simple and dignified language he describes a complex and sympathetic portrait of a traditional Ibo village. He shows us a society that contains much of value and undermines Conrad’s vision of Africa as the heart of darkness.
Although he does not paint a vision of an ideal society, Achebe, nevertheless, introduces us to a range of timeless and empathetic characters, and displays his ability to portray them in a way that makes them instantly recognisable to us over both time and space.
This is a short novel but compulsive reading. There are, apparently, two sequels, and I shall be looking for both of them.
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[...] is awarded every two years for a body of fiction. Achebe, 76, is best known for his first novel, Things Fall Apart (1958). He has written more than 20 books, including novels, short stories, essays and collections [...]
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Jan 26th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Hi John,
Things Fall Apart once formed part of the fifth form syllabus (O levels), a time when I studied literature at the Convent in Malaysia.
The name Okonkwo strikes a chord.
His tall and silent headship.
His wives and affairs of the night.
The scornful rivalry as each wife competed for Okonkwo’s affections.
That resulted in:
our muffled giggles at the back of the classroom & the sly passing of the odd note. Never had i seen our teacher Mrs. Xavier so passionate about a fictitious character before.
Last year, our government banned this book together with several inspiring novels. No one knows why. Except that Things Fall Apart isn’t allowed into our country anymore.
Glad I still hold the memory.
jb says: Hi Susan. Strange isn’t it, the things we remember. . . And how terrible that such a book is banned. A government that is frightened of ideas is a government that is frightened of everything.
Jan 27th, 2007 at 1:46 am
John,
Just to add on to the subject of banned books, late last year several others got banned too. This included Rushdie’s Shalimar the Clown, Being Jordan, Feel: Robbie Williams, Mao: A Life, Practice of Business Statistics, A History of God, Things a Woman Should Know About Seduction, Addicted to Love: The Kate Moss Story, Music for Sleepy Babies, the series of SpongeBob Square Pants & Counting Adventures Sound Activity Book by Disney, Read-A-Loud Children’s Classics & many others.
Mine stays as one of the most democratic muslim countries in the world. I can travel to almost anywhere without a visa. Yet, I don’t understand why this suddenly happened. When you consider the irony. That one can just cross the border to Singapore in minutes to purchase the banned books. I can get mine when I travel easily enough. But not so for the several thousands of others who make up for communities that may not travel.
I feel such an action deprives the people of a credible thinking society.
(Sorry that this stayed out of focus to your post at hand.)
jb says: Thanks, Susan, we need to know these things.
Jan 30th, 2007 at 2:33 am
Things Fall Apart is indeed a great novel and is one of my personal favorites. I read it in conjunction with The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, which is about a family of missionaries in the Congo. Both are excellent, as is Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.
I simply love Achebe and I think that he’s one of the greatest minds and authors of the twentieth century. His story-telling ability is legendary. It’s such a gripping story. I highly recommend No Longer at Ease which is also by Achebe. It focuses on the life of Obi Okonkwo, Nwoye’s son. It has a more modern setting but uses as interesting parallel structure that connects the two different time periods. I think it’s even better than Things Fall Apart.
jb says: OK, Grant, you’ve sold it to me. And I’ve also been promising myself a look at The Poisonwood Bible one of these days.
Mar 26th, 2007 at 4:52 am
The Variability of Values
Values are something that we believe in. Different parts and structures of society have different values. Social values, family values, economic values, and religious values could be some of those. These values may be similar and vary from family to family, society to society, culture to culture, and country to country with respect to time. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart the values of respect and faith vary with time and generation differences.
Different kinds of social values could be seen in Okonkwo’s society which also changed with time. In their Ibo society a title is very important to establish social status; both of these things reflect the value of respect. A title might be given for any brave work, winning a wrestling competition, growing a lot of yams as an example. A man could get a maximum of four titles in the clan and could become a lord of Umuofia. On the other hand, if a person doesn’t have any title in his whole life he is called agbala and is treated as a woman. For example, Okonkwo’s father, Unoka was a man like that. That is why, Okonkwo tried his whole life to be the opposite of his father and tried to get the maximum title of the clan and to be the lord of the clan.
As time passes, beliefs in people in a certain society also may change as they changed in Umuofia. When Okonkwo returned from his mother land after seven years he noticed a huge change in his clan. By this time British Missionaries had come to their village. They setup churches and a court system in the village. They converted some people to Christianity. Title was no longer valuable in that clan; respect and status had been lost. For example, one person having two titles who had a good chance to be a lord of Umuofia also converted to Christianity. Nobody also respected and cared about Okonkwo’s title; rather, they paid attention to his two young daughters. People of the clan began going to school and they learned to read and write, and a number of them changed their previous beliefs. Previously, they acquired knowledge from tales and now an educational institute took the place of acquiring knowledge. Some of them even got jobs as a clerk in court and became teacher in school. They began to establish their social status on a different scale then. They adopted some living standards from British culture.
Religious values play a very important role in a society. A lot of social and cultural activities of religious people are centered around their religious beliefs. Even though it is hard to change values of faith, it may also change with respect to time. Okonkwo and their villagers believed in many gods. They established their personal cbi. They had their god for crops, weather, health, and children and Chukwuka as their main god. The villagers lead their lives depending on the wishes of their gods. They used to sacrifice animals to their gods to satisfy them as they could achieve their goal.
As British colonial people came in to the clan they tried to change their beliefs and told them there is only one god in the Universe. Mr. Brown tried to teach people about the new religion about one almighty god. But no frontal attack on religion would succeed to change one’s belief. That’s why setting up schools, hospitals, and churches could help to do so. British missionaries established those in the Evil Forest and no English people died for that, which was very new and unbelievable to the inhabitants of Mbiano. This kind of amazing event, new policies and their intimacy attracted the people and hence help people to change their religious beliefs too.
Hence, because of change in values, Okonkwo, the warrior like-man in Umuofia, unaccountably became soft like a woman. The value of respect and faith changed to the new generation with respect to time. People began to respect education and new laws. Most of their faith also changed from polytheist to one god. Variation in values could cause a death of man and also could help to emerge a society.
jb says: Thanks for this, Ashis. Perceptive and succinct summary.
May 16th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
I think this novel is the valuest one in the African Literature.
I advice evryone to read it !
jb says: So do I.
Jun 22nd, 2007 at 8:12 pm
i am igbo same as achebe and i write to encourage your interest in the book.the first time i read it i was 12 years old and then for me it was just a wonderful tale in the likes of Aesop’s fables.i only came to realise its importance one day when i turned to the back of a book of greek mythology and then saw achebe’s name listed along with literary giants such as Dostoevysky(hope i spelled that right) whose novel ‘crime and punishment’ i’ve just finished reading with a shamelessly unacademic interest.Ironic,isn’t it- that i could have been so ignorant of a man reshaping eurocentric and narrow-minded views concerning my people.I feel particularly flattered by your interest in the book-it is high time everyone started learning about other cultures rather than turning up racist and narrow-minded noses(excuse the mixed metaphors please!) on anything slightly different to what they have been used to or their own self imposed norms!
jb says: Hi Chichi. Thanks for calling in, and particularly for your comments. I’m almost envious of your reading of Dostoevsky. That was another book that tore me apart and put the pieces back to make a different shape.
Jul 12th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Hi John I am a niece to Prof Chinua Achebe. The novel Things Fall Apart was written when I was born. I read it when I was 10 tears old and I still read it every year so as to digest it. I have also been able to teach my children about our culture long ago. My late father was his brother and guardian. Thank you very much.
jb says: Hey, Azogini, you just made my day . . .
Jul 27th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
IM SO PROUD OF PROF CHINUA ACHEBE, I HOPE I WILL MEET WITH HIM ONE DAY. IM A DOCTORATE STUDENT IN SPAIN, AND MY THESIS IS ABOUT THIS STRONG AND VALUABLE MAN AND HIS WORK ‘THINGS FALL APART’. ACTUALLY, HE’S REAL AFRICAN CHILD, IM PROUD OF HIM, HE MAKES ME FEEL REAL AFRICAN. I WOULD TRULY LIKE TO SEE HIM AND PROF WOLE SOYINKA DOING SOMETHING TOGETHER. I HOPE AFRICA, MOST ESPECIALLY NIGERIA WILL RECOGNIZE BOTH OF THEM ONCE AGAIN AS GIANTS OF AFRICAN LITERATURE, TRUST ME, I RESPECT THEM BOTH. GOD BLESS THEM,WITH THEM I HAVE THIS PRIDE TO SAY I AM AN AFRICAN AND PROUD TO BE.
Mar 21st, 2008 at 11:21 pm
I think this is a great book for people interested in learning about the IGBO culture. I think Chinua is good at writing to make you feel what he is feeling.
jb says: It’s a great book for people interested in learning about people and culture and society, Caylen.
Apr 5th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
NICE
Apr 9th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Hello could you tell me what was Chinua Achebe’s real name was and why did he change his name.
jb says: As far as I know, Achebe was the son of a Christian churchman and was babtized Albert Chinualumogu Achebe. He later changed his name to Chinua Achebe to reflect his Igbo heritage.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:05 pm
please what are the languages Things Fall Apart have been translated into?
jb says: I don’t know which, Bisi. But they say it’s been translated into at least 50 languages.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
THIS BOOK IS THE BEST WE COULD EVER GET IN AFRICA.IT GIVES YOU AN INSIGHT INTO THE AFRICAN CULTURE AND CLEARS YOUR MIND FROM EVERY DOUBT.
May 14th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
i love things fall apart i love the african culture cus many african writers like to westernize there book but dis one is typical african.n is so amazing dat all or most of ous african have the same voules n culture.but i guss i love THE ARROW OF GOD better its about ezulou. i love it.am GAMBIAN LIVING IN DA USA but i still love to read n watch african movies cus da american society does not have morals or values.for dem its all about sex, big cars n money no culture no family .